


Too Much Else

by LittleSweetCheeks



Series: Family Matters [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Depression, Heartbreak, Loss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-11 00:14:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7867375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This runs concurrent to Too Much so many details will repeat.  </p><p>Spencer nodded. “I figured it wasn’t an everyday thing and it was his way of coping.”</p><p>“You should have told me, Reid.”</p><p>“I know.”</p><p>“He’s an idiot.”  He stood and paced, “You’re both idiots.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Derek Morgan was sitting in Rossi’s office when Garcia stepped in, file in hand and nervous look on her face.  “Case, Mama?”

“It’s…bad.”  She handed him the folder.

“No.  We can’t take this.  Not today.”

“The other team left for Louisiana early this morning and they’re requesting help.  Today.”

“We can’t, Hotch can take a case like this.  Not now.”  Morgan passed the folder across to Rossi.

Dave read the first page and frowned, “Maybe I can talk him into staying back.”

“You really think that’ll work?”

Dave shrugged, “I can only try.”

=====

Most of the team was sitting at the front of the jet discussing the case, trying not to notice their leader sitting silently at the back withdrawn.  Rossi had done his best in trying to dissuade his friend from coming, but the younger man insisted he was fine to work.  Morgan had left a message for Spencer to call him when he had a chance, but left no indication of the problem.

====

The case itself only took four days to crack, but in the end eight infants’ lives were tragically ended at the hands of a man who’d suffered a psychotic break.  JJ was just finishing up her final press release and caught up with Morgan just as he was returning to help Emily and Rossi pack up.

JJ looked around the room, “Hotch isn’t here?”

Prentiss stood and glanced around, “He was with you outside.”

“He disappeared about halfway through.  I thought he came back in.”

Dave pulled out his phone and pressed the speed dial.  Everyone startled when a phone beeped in the corner, “Well that’s not good.”  He picked up Hotch’s suit jacket and pulled out the phone.

“He probably hasn’t gone far then?”  JJ asked, unsure.

“Let’s give him a half hour to turn up.”  Morgan returned to boxing up their files.

=====

Two hours went by before everyone finally conceded that maybe they needed to look for Hotch.

“I know we shouldn’t have taken this case,” Morgan sighed.

“Or Hotch shouldn’t have come.”  Rossi added.

“We all tried talking to him, he just always looks so…devastated.”  Emily agreed.

JJ dialed Penelope, “Pen, we need you to try a trace, maybe of a credit card.  Phone won’t work.”

“Trace?  I thought the case was over.”

JJ sighed, “It is, we haven’t seen Hotch since the press conference.”

“Did you try calling him?”

“Yeah.  But he left his phone here in his jacket.”  She listened to typing, “Anything?”

“I want to be on record as this makes me uncomfortable.”

“Duly noted.”

“There are some charges for a bar called Freddie’s.  It’s about three miles south of you.”

“Thanks Penelope.”  JJ hung up.  “Freddie’s bar, several charges show up on his card.”

Morgan’s jaw clenched, “I’m calling Reid.”  He stormed off.


	2. Chapter 2

One Reid had been contacted and the young man had said he would fly to them as soon as he could, the four agents agreed that maybe JJ would have the best luck talking to Hotch so she was sent to the bar to get him.

JJ shivered as she climbed out of the SUV, rubbing her arms.  She dodged puddles as she slipped into the dim pub.  On first glance, she didn’t see the man she was looking for and started toward the counter when the bartender pointed to a table past her shoulder.  She turned and found Aaron leaning over a table covered in empty glasses.  She nodded in thanks to the bartender and leaned in, “Aaron?”

When Hotch tried to smile at her, her heart broke slightly.

“Aaron, you’ve had enough.”  She moved the partially filled glass out of his reach.  “We need to go to the hotel now.”  She prodded him upright and then to standing.  The bartender asked if she could manage or needed help to which she replied they were fine.  It was hard balancing his height and mass, so much bigger than hers, but she got him outside into the chilly air.

Hotch didn’t seem to notice the drop in temperature as he leaned further into her before, “I’m okay.”  He pulled upright.

“No, you need help, you’re not okay.”

He struggled to get her to release him, staggering.  Finally she gave in and he found the world suddenly dipping and swirling around him before his knee cracked into the pavement.

“Hotch!”  She scrambled to pull him up, looking for any obvious sign of injury.  Finding nothing but a soaked pant leg, she pulled him back up, “You’re a stubborn ass, you know that?  Everyone just wants to help you, why won’t you talk to us?  How much did you drink?”  She opened the car door and turned him to sit on the seat.  She frowned at his inability to manage on his own and nudged him until he was fully in before leaning over and securing him.

She tried not to think too much about the fact she was leaning right across the lap of a very drunk man.  JJ had convinced herself it was no big deal right up until she felt his hands on her head and running through her hair.

“Soft.”  He mumbled, slurring.

JJ stiffened and pulled back,  “Aaron!”  She took both his hands and folded them in his lap, “Keep your hands there. Hotch, it will only take a minute to get back, but if you need me to pull over, say so. Okay?”  She watched him nod and wondered if he was even hearing her.

Once they were moving, she kept glancing at him for signs of anything.  “Reid didn’t sound surprised at you vanishing to a bar.  Do you know how bad that is?  That your husband practically _expected_ it?  What else don’t we know?”  She frowned and glanced over and saw he’d passed out.

Just as they pulled into the lot, her phone rang, “Hello?”

“Hey, JJ, it’s me,”  Morgan said, “Reid’s flight got delayed about twenty minutes.  We shouldn’t be too long though.  Did you find him?”

“Yeah.  He’s drunk, Derek.”

“Drunk?”

“Really drunk.  He couldn’t even walk himself to the car.  He’s passed out now.”

“Where are you?”

“Just pulled into the hotel.”

“Why don’t you just wait for us to get back?  Any idea how much he had?”

“The table was covered in glasses so, a lot.  And you know Hotch, he isn’t a lush.  It takes quite a bit for him to even look tipsy.”

Morgan rubbed his forehead, “And he’s smashed?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll hurry.  Just sit tight.  I’ll tell Reid when he lands, see what he wants to do.”

“Okay, Morgan.  I’ll let you know if anything changes here.”  She tossed her phone into the center console and caught her boss blinking awake.  He reached for the door handle so she got out and went around to block him from falling.  “The others got held up. I think maybe we should wait and have Morgan and Rossi help you upstairs.”  She pressed one hand to his shoulder.

He stared at her a minute before, “No, we can go up.”

When he started to struggle against his seatbelt, JJ sighed and calmed him before repeating her earlier action and unlatching the buckle.  “I don’t want you to fall, Hotch.  I won’t be able to get you up.”

“I’m okay.”  He mumbled.

She glanced at her watch and then helped him stagger forward, locking the vehicle behind them and watching him sway dangerously as he attempted to make his feet move.  “You’re going to get hurt if you don’t let me help.”

When he let out a slight moan, she glanced up just in time to catch the telltale signs of someone about to be sick.  She turned him to the bushes and prayed he wouldn’t fall forward.  When they finally got through the doors and headed to the elevator, JJ could see the desk clerk watching them.  She didn’t have time to deal with the woman and her disgust at what had just happened.

In the elevator, Hotch slumped in a corner, eyes closed and mouth slightly open, breathing heavily with the effort.

“We’re almost to your room.”  She tried to comfort him.

At the door she asked for his key card, but when he couldn’t remember where he’d put it, she resorted to reaching into his pockets to find it.  Eventually she found it in his wallet and before he could complain, she was pushing him in to the bathroom.

He was sitting on the toilet lid staring blearily up at her.

“I get it Hotch, it hurts.  And it will hurt for a long time.  You can talk to me about anything, you should know that.  Our friendship goes both ways.”  She took a deep breath, “I’ll go find your pajamas, you need to try and get a shower, clean up.  It will help clear your head a bit?  It will all be okay soon.”  She gripped his shoulder before leaving him.  When she returned, he was trying and failing to unbutton his shirt, “Hotch, stop.  Let me do it, okay?”  She helped him take off his shirt and tie and then his undershirt, taking in the sight of his many scars that he kept hidden.  She knelt down and removed his shoes and socks before asking, ”Can you manage the rest?”

“Rest?”  He asked.

JJ tugged him to standing and carefully undid his belt, pulling it through the loops, “If you were sober, this would be more weird.”  She helped him out of his pants and boxers and backed away.  “Get in the shower, Aaron.”  When he stumbled trying to step over the side, she rushed forward to steady him, his body pressing against her.  “I’ll be right back, you wash.”

Once the water was set, JJ stepped out and found her phone, calling Morgan, “Hey.”

“We’re on our way back.  How is he?”

“He’s in the shower now. He was sick after he got out of the car”

“You got him in okay?”

“Yeah.  He had to have help undressing.”  She winced at the sound of him throwing up, “He’s still being sick.”

She couldn’t’ make out the voice talking to Morgan, “Reid says we should take him to the hospital and have his stomach pumped.”

“You think so?  Throwing it all up is probably the best thing for him.” 

“He could still end up with alcohol poisoning.”

“When you get here, we can all discuss it.”  She hung up and returned to the bathroom.  The smell of sour liquor filled the steamy space,   “Done?”

“Yeah.”

“Get dry and dressed and come lay down.  They should be here shortly.”  She pulled the door shut and waited.

=====

JJ was watching the older man sleep when someone knocked on the door.  She opened it to find an exhausted Reid and Morgan on the other side.  “Come in.  He’s asleep.”

Reid pushed in, “Any idea how much he drank?”

“No.  A lot.”

He twisted his hands, “We should take him to the hospital.  He could deteriorate quickly.”

“Spence,”  She hugged him, “He’s thrown up everything in his stomach, he should be fine.  We’ll just monitor him for now, okay?”

“Okay.”

Morgan hugged his friend, “I’m going to get some sleep.  Call me if you need anything.”


	3. Chapter 3

The room was silent when Rossi stepped in hours later, “JJ, go get some sleep.”

She nodded and left while Reid took Hotch’s pulse again.

“How’s he doing?”

“Breathing is shallow, pulse is still strong.”

Dave nodded, “Talk to me kid.”

“What, Rossi?”

“This little performance didn’t seem to surprise you.”

Spencer chewed his cheek, “No, it didn’t.”

“So he’s done it before.  How many times?”

“The night we came home from the hos,” his voice hitched, “hospital.  Then before the funeral…while we were on vacation.”

“He did this on vacation?  With Jack there?”  Rossi was angry.

Spencer nodded. “I figured it wasn’t an everyday thing and it was his way of coping.”

“You should have told me, Reid.”

“I know.”

“He’s an idiot.”  He stood and paced, “You’re both idiots.”

Reid stayed silent.

“We needed to know this information.  We could have reached out more, insisted on someone being with him.”

“Sorry.”

Dave sighed heavily and sank into his chair.

=====

Sunlight was filling the room when the form on the bed groaned painfully.  Rossi was on his feet in an instant, “Reid, get a bucket or something.”

Spencer snatched the empty ice bucket and thrust in next to his husband, who Rossi was trying to keep lying down.  Once the bucket was in place, Rossi backed off and the pair watched as Aaron groaned and threw up repeatedly.

“For the record, I think you deserve how you’re feeling now.”

He tried to look up at his husband, but everything was still fairly blurry. “How…”

Spencer sat on the bed, placing the lid on the bucket and moving it away, “Morgan called. It took time to wrap up what I was doing and get a direct flight. I saw the file though. The little boy who …, taken and beaten to death. I’m sorry you couldn’t reach me, but from what I’ve spent all night hearing, you didn’t reach out to anyone else either. Just a glass.”

“All night?”

Spencer frowned at his slurring, “Someone had to stay up and make sure you didn’t choke to death. JJ finally went to sleep, she was here when I arrived and stayed till Dave came to relieve her.” He glanced over at the older man who was hovering by the door.

It took a minute to process, “Dave?”

The older man came into view, frowning, “We have to be at the plane in three hours. You have two to get sorted out.” He stood and left them alone.

=====

Once they were home, Hotch headed straight for the liquor cabinet and pulled out every bottle, carrying them to the kitchen.  “Spencer?”  He waited for his partner to appear, “No more, I promise.  And for now I’m turning over my keys and everything to you.  I want to do better.”

Spencer nodded, “You have to do this for you, not for me.  I miss Ryan terribly too, Aaron. We’re all hurting.  And Emily hurts too; technically Ryan was part of her too.  IN all of this, she’s had no one to lean on like we have.”

Aaron sank into a chair, “We should have her over.  Talk.”

“We will.  Not now though.  In time we will talk to her about if we want to try again or anything.  Everyone is still so raw.”

He pulled Spencer close for a hug, ”I know.  Catching him, I didn’t get to see Jack enter the world like that, you know? I just needed to be there for one special moment.”

“I know, Aaron.  I know.”

 


End file.
